Alma  College  Bulletin 

Published  by  the  College  the  first 
and  third  Tuesday  of  each  month 


Vol.  10  No.  2 
APRIL  22,  1913 


Entered  at  Alma,  Mich.,  as  second  class  matter 
under  Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1894 


The  Main  Building 


o  ^ 


1 

V. »  O  vocr.  e. 

ALMA  COLLEGE 


COLLEGE  for  character”  was  the  clarion  call 
in  a  Sunday  evening  sermon  in  the  First  Presby¬ 
terian  Church  in  Bay  City,  Michigan,  early  in 
1886.  A  dramatic  response  came  with  the 
close  of  the  service,  an  undreamed-of  offer  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  towards  the  endowment  of  such  a 
college.  And  Alma  College  was  born. 

“A  college  for  character”  Alma  was  for  the  ninety -five 
students  within  its  newly  opened  portals  during  the  college 
year  1887-1888.  “A  college  for  character”  it  has  been  to 
each  of  the  thousands  of  students  who  have  profited  by  the 
liberality  of  its  founders.  44 A  college  for  character”  is  its 
insistent  aim  to-day. 

Alma  believes  in  education.  It  believes  in  the  education 
that  prepares  directly  for  vocations.  It  believes  in  the 
education  that  comes  from  books  and  laboratories.  It 
believes  far  more  in  the  education  that  comes  to  the  young 
from  close  association  with  men  and  women  of  character.  It 
believes  that  education  is  learning  promptness  and  thought¬ 
fulness,  kindness 
and  helpfulness, 
and  every  form 
of  purity;  that 
it  is  the  master¬ 
ing  of  mind  and 
spirit,  appetite 
and  passion, 
thought  and 
word  and  glance. 

On  the  Campus 


Pioneer  Hall  —  for  Men 


The  Library 

It  believes  in  an  education  which  teaches  service  to  be  the 
highest  form  of  worthy  living;  which  identifies  selfishness 
with  sin;  and  which  shows  that  real  courage  lies  in  being  right. 
It  believes  that  education  is  the  implanting  of  good  habits, 
the  acquirement  of  efficiency,  the  development  of  twenty- 
four  carat  character. 

At  Alma  every  student  must  take  a  few  prescribed  studies. 
Outside  of  these  each  may  elect  from  a  wide  range  of  sub¬ 
jects.  However,  in  order  that  elected  work  may  lead  to 
wise  results,  each  student  is  required  to  emphasize  during 
his  course  two  subjects.  This  “group  system”  tends  towards 
unity  in  variety,  tends  to  make  the  student  something  of  a 
master  along  certain  lines  instead  of  a  mere  dabbler  along 
many  lines. 

Alma  believes  in  the  value  of  library  work;  yet  this  is  not 
carried  to  the  extreme  of  having  college  students  try  to  do 


Entrance  to  Class  Rooms 


the  research  work  that  belongs  peculiarly  to  the  graduate 
school.  In  history,  sociology,  economics,  political  science, 
pedagogy,  psychology,  literature,  and  in  the  more  advanced 
work  in  languages,  constant  reference  is  made  to  the  mag¬ 
azine  files,  the  reference  works,  and  the  general  library.  So, 
too,  the  current  magazines,  a  large  number  of  which  are 
found  in  the  reading  room,  are  in  regular  use  for  reference 
purposes  by  various  departments. 

Well-equipped  laboratories  in  chemistry,  in  physics,  and 
in  biology  afford  the  student  opportunity  for  securing  the 
education  that  comes  from  doing  and  handling,  as  well  as 
that  which  comes  from  studying. 

The  museum,  equipped  with  an  excellent  collection  of 
birds,  animals,  fossils,  rocks  and  minerals,  offers  facilities  for 
students  interested  along  these  lines.  A  rare  collection  of 
Michigan  birds  is  of  particular  value.  The  Alexander 
Winchell  collection  of  rocks,  minerals,  and  fossils,  probably 
the  most  valuable  acquisition  of  the  museum,  was  gathered 
by  the  famous  Professor  Winchell  during  his  long  career  as 
a  geologist  and  teacher.  This  collection  has  unusual  value 


because  its  thousands  of  specimens  are  described  by  the 
collector  himself. 

A  feature  of  the  college  work  at  Alma  is  the  Department 
of  Kindergarten  Training.  Here  young  women  who  have 
satisfied  the  entrance  requirements,  are  permitted  to  do  a 
line  of  work  which,  together  with  the  regular  college  work  in 
English,  biology,  history,  nature-study  and  household 
chemistry,  gives  them  in  two  years’  time  a  Michigan  certif¬ 
icate,  permitting  them  to  teach  in  the  kindergartens  of  the 
state.  Besides  the  theory,  the  young  women  are  given 
practical  training  in  conducting  the  kindergarten  school, 
which  is  maintained  by  the  college  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Alma  public  schools.  Girls  who  complete  this  work  are 
urged  to  continue  for  two  additional  years,  at  the  close  of 
which  they  secure  not  only  the  kindergarten  certificate,  but 


Hood  Museum 


Wright  Hall  —  for  Women 


also  a  state  teacher’s  certificate  and  a  bachelor’s  degree. 
This  adaptation  of  college  training  to  a  vocational  end 
appeals  to  many  young  women  who  are  anxious  to  see  a 
bread-winning  ability  result  from  their  college  course. 

Alma  College  maintains  a  Music  School.  Here  teachers 
having  the  best  training  afforded  in  Germany,  France  and 
America  have  charge  of  the  work  in  voice,  piano,  pipe  organ, 
and  violin.  Entrance  to  the  music  school  is  not  dependent 
upon  a  completion  of  the  college  entrance  requirements. 
However,  students  who  have  finished  high  school,  by  com¬ 
pleting  a  course  in  music,  together  with  certain  specified 
work  in  literature,  language  and  science,  are  able  to  secure 
a  degree  in  music.  Those  who  have  not  fulfilled  the  require¬ 
ments  for  college  entrance  are  granted  a  certificate  and 
diploma  when  they  have  completed  their  musical  work 
together  with  a  less  amount  of 
literary  work;  they  cannot,  how¬ 
ever,  become  candidates  for  a 
degree.  Students  pursuing  regular 
college  work  as  candidates  for  the 
bachelor’s  degree  are  permitted  to 
elect  a  limited  amount  of  music. 

In  connection  with  the  Music 
School  are  a  choral  society  and 
orchestra,  and  a  glee  club.  The 
choral  society  and  orchestra  each 
year  present  several  public  pro¬ 
grams,  while  the  glee  club  makes 
an  annual  trip  during  which  it  sings 
in  about  a  dozen  places.  No  glee 
club  appearing  in  the  state  is  more 
enthusiastically  received,  or  pre- 


The  College  Glee  Club 


Sir 


sents  a  program 
more  attractive 
as  an  entertain¬ 
ment  o  r  more 
artistic  as  a  mu¬ 
sical  perform- 
a  n  c  e.  Op¬ 
portunities  for 
return  engage¬ 
ments  come  from  every  city  in  which  the  Alma  Glee  Club 
appears. 

One  of  the  pleasant  phases  of  student  years  at  Alma  is  the 
dormitory  life.  Many  of  the  young  men  live  in  Pioneer  Hall, 
a  dormitory  provided  with  electric  lights,  steam  heat,  shower 
baths,  etc.  Here  they  maintain  a  type  of  self-government, 
in  which  they  make  and  enforce  their  own  regulations.  No 
narrow  restrictions  limit  their  activities  and  the  enjoyment 
that  should  accompany  dormitory  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  enforcing  of  their  own  reasonable  regulations  regarding 


Physical  Training  is  Required  of  All 


study  hours,  disturbances,  and  inter¬ 
ference  with  one  another,  develops  a 
responsibility  and  a  type  of  manhood 
that  must  result  in  helpful  citizen¬ 
ship.  The  president  and  a  member  of 
the  faculty  meet  every  few  weeks  with 
the  young  men  for  a  general  discussion 
of  their  life  and  the  results  of  their 
system  of  self-government. 

Wright  Hall,  the  college  home  for 
young  women,  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  buildings  for  the  purpose 
found  among  the  smaller  colleges.  Here,  likewise,  the  young 
women  are  under  a  system  of  student  self-government.  The 
Dean  of  Women,  together  with  a  half  dozen  woman  instruc¬ 
tors,  live  with  the  students  in  Wright  Hall  and  give  them 
every  possible  assistance  in  developing  noble  womanhood. 
But  the  responsibility  of  making  and  of  enforcing  house 
regulations  rests  largely  upon  the  young  women  themselves; 
and  this  responsibility  is  perhaps  as  good  training  as  they 
receive  towards  the  development  of  sterling  womanly  qual¬ 
ities.  Of  course,  mistakes  are  made;  but  in  life  we  learn  by 


“Hard  to  Beat” 


When  the  Game  is  Won  —  or  Lost 

mistakes,  and  the  Alma  College  authorities  believe  that 
college  life  should  not  differ  widely  from  the  life  which 
follows  graduation.  Here  should  be  developed  a  sense  of 
responsibility.  Here  the  “give  and  take”  which  must  be 
met  in  life’s  activities  should  become  familiar.  Here  young 
women,  as  well  as  young  men,  should  learn  to  associate  with 
each  other  on  a  basis  of  equality  and  of  reasonable  self- 
restraint.  Hothouse  training  is  tabooed.  Character  devel¬ 
opment  is  encouraged. 

The  young  men  and  women  meet  at  meals  in  the  dining 
room  at  Wright  Hall.  Thus  is  maintained  a  social  relation¬ 
ship  which  is  a  real  training  in  the  amenities.  Perhaps  no 
phase  of  college  life  would  be  surrendered  less  willingly. 

Practically  every  Alma  student  is  a  member  of  a  literary 
society;  and  here  are  real  literary  societies,  not  mere  social 
organizations.  Literary  work  of  a  high  type  is  done.  Men 
and  women  alike  are  trained,  by  practical  work,  in  various 
forms  of  public  speaking,  carrying  out  in  the  society  the 
theories  which  they  have  learned  in  the  class  room.  Inter¬ 
collegiate  public  speaking  contests,  in  both  oratory  and 


A  Bit  of  Campus 

debating,  are  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  college  life.  Nor  are  the 
women  without  part  in  this  work, 
for  they  have  each  year  their 
contests  to  choose  a  college 
representative  to  the  State  Or¬ 
atorical  Contest. 

Football,  basketball,  baseball, 
tennis,  and  track  teams  are 
developed;  but  the  real  aim  of 

“Through  Learning’s  .... 

Gates”  Alma  athletics  is  not  to  develop 

teams,  but  to  secure  for  each  student  the  athletic  work  best 
suited  to  his  abilities.  Alma  does  not  believe  in  develop¬ 
ing  an  eleven  while  the  hundreds  sit  on  the  bleachers  and 
cheer;  it  believes  in  developing  every  one  of  those  who  sit 
on  the  bleachers  as  well  as  the  eleven.  Besides  the  gymna¬ 
sium  and  outdoor  athletic  work,  there  are  other  activities 
planned  to  forward  the  enjoyment  of  the  students.  Alma 
believes  in  working  hard  when  one  works;  she  believes  also 
in  plenty  of  play  and  in  playing  hard  during  playtime.  So 


there  are  picnics 
up  Pine  River 
and  corn  roasts 
in  that  part  of 
the  campus 
known  as  the 
Jungle.  There 
are  stunt  parties 
and  dramatic 
perf  or  m  ances. 
in  The  Jungle  There  are  soci¬ 

ety  entertainments,  and  union  social  gatherings  under  the 
direction  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The 
result  is  that  at  the  end  of  a  term  or  of  the  year,  students 
are  anxious  to  return  to  Alma  work  and  to  Alma  play,  as 
they  say  to  each  other  their  temporary  farewells. 

Alma  is  not  a  large  college.  Her  prime  aim  is  to  be  a 
great  small  college.  She  believes  in  the  intimate  associa¬ 
tion  of  student  and  instructor.  She  feels  the  overwhelming 
advantage  of  faculty  knowing  student,  and  of  student  know¬ 
ing  faculty.  In 
this  association 
the  character¬ 
forming  in¬ 
fluences  best 
find  their  way 
into  the  heart 
and  life  of  the 
student.  The 
small  college  is 
the  great  nurs¬ 
ery  of  character. 


On  Pine  River 


Good  Bye! 


INQUIRIES  MAY  BE  ADDRESSED  TO 

THE  PRESIDENT  OF  ALMA  COLLEGE, 
ALMA,  MICHIGAN 


t.  R.  DONNELLEY  A  SONS  CO. ,  CHICAGO 


